Burgundy
by HollieC
Summary: A story related to Ranger RPG web site on my profile . Ranger lets us into a bit of his past and personal life and seeks some advice. I hope you like it, there will be more stories from the RPG coming soon.


**The gang at Ranger RPG is going to working on getting the RPG story posted in story format for those of you who got lost along the way or have yet to venture into the RP realm. There are going to several additional stories added to provide background for the original characters, this being one of them. Ranger's POV, about his daughter Burgundy. **

I know I'm not the kind of person who reveals personal information, but this little bit of my personal life is itching to get out and if I don't let it out soon, it might kill me.

I'm sure all of you know Julie is my daughter, a beautiful, smart 10 year old girl. But, what you don't know is I also have another daughter. She is 13 and hell on wheels. Her name is Burgundy. Burgundy's story isn't a happy one in the beginning, but things get better, then worst, then better again. Some days she loves me, some days she hates my guts. Raising a teenager, running a business and a complicated love life are hard to juggle, but, somehow, I have managed.

Burgundy Jazmine Manoso was born on April 5th at St. James Hospital in Newark, to Miss Janine Beaumont and myself, Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Unfortunately, Janine didn't want to have the baby in the first place.

The day Janine found out she was pregnant, she had scheduled an abortion for the next week. I had found out about this from her older brother PJ, you know him as Tank. I was scared he was going to kill me when he told me, but all he wanted me to do was help his sister. Janine was 2 years older than me. I had just turned 17 and was a senior in high school.

I was raised in a Catholic home and been taught traditional Catholic values. Although, when you are a teenage boy with ragging hormones, those values go out the window when you get your first erection from looking at a nudie calender your best friend stole from his old man. But, I still was against Janine getting an abortion, especially since it was my child she was carrying. She hated me from the minute I told her she would not be aborting her pregnancy. I worked everyday after school to pay for her doctor's appointments. I even quit playing sports in school to work.

Janine cursed me everyday, saying how I had ruined her to ever have the modeling career she was working so hard at. She was a beautiful girl, 6'1", slim, long legs, and flawless skin. She told me that her life had no room for a child, and if I wanted the baby, I could have it. And that is what I choose to do. I would keep and raise the baby myself, with some help from my mother of course.

When Burgundy came into my life, I was in my last few weeks of school. My mom was wonderful and kept my baby daughter while I finished high school and graduated.

After graduation I took a few college courses to get some higher education, but after 2 years I called it quits and decided to join the Army. Tank had already joined the Army and had talked me into it. I didn't want to leave Burgundy, but mom insured me she would take good care of her while I was away. So I enlisted.

I went to boot camp and after boot camp, Ranger's training. There I met 2 guys with more dramatic pasts than mine. Lester Santos, from Queens New York. He had lost both his parents in a car accident when he was 16. He lived in a children's home until his 18th birthday and joined the Army. Bobby Brown, from Chicago. His mother died giving birth to him and his father had retired from the Army early to care for his son. He had a strict military up bringing since his father had been a Drill Sergeant.

After Ranger's training, I got stationed at NAS Miami for some specialized training, along with Lester and Bobby. And it was there that we ran into Tank. He was glad to see me. When my first leave time came up, I flew home to Newark, packed up some of my belongings and Burgundy and moved into base housing. Burgundy was now almost 3 years old now and was so very happy to be with her daddy, or "Papi" as she calls me. She was almost fluent in Spanish, having been in my mother's care.

Before I had went back to Newark, I had met a girl. She worked at an off base grocery store and we had gone out a few time. Her name was Rachel. After 3 months of dating, she became pregnant. So I did what I thought would be the right thing and marry her. 9 months later, Julie came. Burgundy showed jealously toward Julie from day one. Rachel would scold Burgundy and she would cry for her daddy until I got home. Burgundy was daddy's little princess, but I loved Julie just as much. I soon realized I wasn't in love with Rachel and when Julie was 8 months old we got a divorce. I was scheduled to go over seas the next month, so I packed up my things and Burgundy once again and headed back to Newark, leaving my princess with her grandmother once again.

While I was out serving my country, I sent letters home to mom and Burgundy, and got pictures and crayon scribbled pictures in return. One day, I got a certified letter from Rachel, wanting me to sign over all my parental rights to her new husband, who wanted to adopt Julie. I reluctantly signed it, but sent Rachel a letter saying that I still wanted to be able to see Julie when ever I had a chance and she had agreed.

It ended up that Lester, Bobby, Tank and myself were teamed together for every mission we were assigned and over the next few years our bonds grew stronger. We weren't only team mates, we were brothers. After 6 years of coming and going, we all decided to call it quits. I got a loan and bought a fairly large house on the eastern outskirts of Trenton, big enough for the 4 of us and the little princess who was now 10 years old and had all 3 of her "uncles" wrapped around her pinkie finger. We had got jobs working for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds and I was still working a few contract jobs for the government. Soon after that, I met Stephanie and my life hasn't been the same since. I think you are all pretty familiar with that part of my life.

Burgundy was growing up. When she started middle school, I put her in a co-ed private school. When I went away for the government jobs, her uncles took care of her. I was very protective of my princess, she wasn't allowed to go over to any friend's houses until I did an extensive background check on their parents. She hated me for doing that. I told her it was for her safety, but she refused to understand. She started getting rebellious and I tried everything I could to make her happy with out compromising her safety to the point that I was spoiling her. She got a laptop, a cell phone and a little scooter she uses to ride to her friends house. If you are wondering if it has GPS, no point, she knows how to disable it. She is too smart for her own good. She gets an allowance of 25 dollars a week. She buys her own clothes. I remember when she wore frilly dresses with the shiny black shoes, now it's hard to describe how she dresses, glam rock or some nonsense like that. I'm not the hip dad some would think I'd be.

She recently started showing interest in boys, one boy in particular, Nick. Nick is the son of the mayor's administrative assistant. Burgundy had started asking questions and wanting my opinions on certain things. She thought that maybe Nick was involved with a gang and asked if I could find out anything. The boy had quite a record. Then she told me she wanted to have sex with Nick and have his baby. She said she loved Nick, but she is 13 and he is 16. I don't think so.

So you see what I have my hands full with. "Papi, can I get a tattoo?", "Papi, can I get my tongue pierced?", "Papi, why does it hurt a guy so much when you knee them between the legs?", "Papi, why do they call it a blow job when you suck?" God help me! Wish me luck.

**Any advice for Ranger? He sure could use it. He is eagerly waiting for your comments and advice.**


End file.
